“I always loved country music.”
Thanks for taking the time to do this, Jake. I first heard you — and about you — recently when you were playing in Providence. It was like at first sound, so to speak! Let’s start with your background. Where did you grow up?
Happy to do it Wayne! So I mostly grew up in Cranston, but my roots are in Hazleton, Pennsylvania.
When did music first interest you?
Oh it’s always been there, but my first musical obsession was Elvis Presley when Dad got me this Pez dispenser box set from Walmart when I was 7 or 8. It had two CDs of his greatest hits, and two corresponding Pez dispensers that had his face on them. It’s a weird thing for a 7-year-old to want but I asked for it. I played those CDs on the computer and in the car until they scratched.
Was there a teacher or other person who inspired you?
I had a guitar teacher in high school named Shane Manzi, who really helped me unlearn bad habits. Before that and kind of after that I’ve been self-taught, as my developments as a player come from pretty ferocious study. Dave Rawlings, who is from Rhode Island, is someone whose playing I studied quite a bit. I also have been trying to rip apart Vincent Gill’s style for months now.
When did country become your favored genre?
College, but I was shy about it then. People didn’t really get it, while it’s becoming more popular all over America, New England will always be the slowest place to accept it. I always loved country music, though, even when I was into power metal and other stuff that you wouldn’t really connect me to today.
What country singers did you listen to as you moved toward a career?
Tyler Childers has always been my creative North Star, but other singers who I listen to and I think inform my work include: Merle Haggard, George Jones, Keith Whitley, Garth Brooks, George Strait, etc.
OK, let’s return to the here and now. Your website states that “ ‘Powerhouse Americana’ [is] how Jake Hunsinger and company refer to their sound.” Can you please elaborate?
Unfortunately, I’m locked out of the site so I haven’t been able to adjust that. Our friend Alfie Purcell called the band a powerhouse back before Covid, so we used that as the tagline.
Remember how I was shy to use country to describe the music? People’s misconceptions about what country music is, especially in New England, made me hesitant to present myself in a way that just wouldn’t connect. Furthermore, I’m so reverential and obsessed with country music, that I also didn’t want to insult it by making that connection without earning it. I reject Americana as my main genre now though, as I didn’t really want to be that in the first place.
Let’s get to your company. That would be The Rock Bottom Band. Who are the members and what instruments do they play?
Andrew plays lead guitar and is my singing partner, Jamie Doyle is our bassist, and Zack Wedge is our drummer. We all met in college (except Andrew because he’s older than us). They’re my best friends and have been playing with me for 7 years.
Your website states that the “four members of Providence, Rhode Island’s Jake Hunsinger & The Rock Bottom Band are self-described ‘history nerds to the extreme.’ ” Details, please.
Well that’s a left over from a PR push that I kind of wish got more thought put into it on our end. I wanted to talk about how so much of American music canon and the history of country music informs everything I write, but it now reads as “I write songs about history” which I don’t. Everything we do, however, is informed subconsciously by what came before; culturally, it’s inescapable. Especially in a very culturally specific genre like country music.
Besides Rhode Island, in what states do you perform?
I play every New England state, plus New York as part of my regular circuit. We’ve played festivals in Texas as well, and I’ve done work in Nashville.
Have you won any awards?
We won the Rhode Island music award for Best Country act three years in a row, from 2023-25
Please tell us about your songwriting process: what, when, where and so forth
I write every day just to get words and phrases out. I’ll ruminate on something for however long and connect words to it, almost like I’m discovering what was already there. Then I edit furiously to make sure everything makes sense and that I’ve accomplished all I intended to do narratively and stylistically. I do all this while singing and working out the melody and musical arrangement m.
Any plans — or hopes — to play in Nashville, the home of country music?
Plenty, I’ll be back there before the end of the year to secure some distribution help for my new album. It doesn’t have a name yet, but the songs are done and they’re my best work yet.
